A downed Israeli spy drone on display at the Military Museum in Tehran, September, 9, 2019. A monitor in the background shows Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Hardliners seem to have won the day in Tehran, but instead of deterring Netanyahu, they have likely sparked a painful, direct strike on Iranian territory.
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Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel surprised some observers.
It had seemed that the relatively moderate camp in Iran enjoyed growing sway over Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s decision-making. Iran’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian, a member of the group that wants to see more engagement with the West in order to grow the economy and stabilize the regime, seemed to win the day after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.
Despite the killing — widely believed to be by Israel’s hand — of a guest of the regime, who was in the capital to attend the inauguration of the new president, Khamenei opted not to respond.
Speaking at the United Nations last week, Pezeshkian offered a message of conciliation: “We seek peace for all and have no intention of conflict with any country… Iran opposes war.”
That approach has changed.
Read the full article at the Times of Israel.
